Managing print jobs

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing print jobs associated with multiple customers. Customer-editable design templates for printed products and design software tools enabling creation by customers of custom print product designs are provided, via a network, to multiple customers operating corresponding electronic devices. Individual print jobs corresponding to custom print product designs created by multiple different customers via the electronic devices are received and automatically aggregated into an aggregate print job comprising individual print jobs from different customers. The aggregated individual print jobs in the aggregate print job are printed simultaneously on one or more units of a shared substrate when the aggregate print job is printed.

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/159,764, filed Jan. 21, 2014, issuing as U.S. patent which U.S. Pat.No. 9,152,362, which is a divisional of prior application Ser. No.12/391,019, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 8,634,089, which is a divisional ofprior application Ser. No. 10/608,885 filed on Jun. 27, 2003, issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,495,796, which is a divisional of prior application Ser.No. 09/557,571 filed on Apr. 25, 2000, issued as U.S. Pat. No.6,650,433, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to managing print jobs.

BACKGROUND

Short-run print jobs, e.g., business cards, letterheads, sell sheets,invitations, announcements, folders, brochures, and marketing materials,are generally printed by commercial printers using relatively small, lowcost printing equipment. Because of the set-up time involved in changingfrom one print job to the next, and the relatively low volumes printed(often less than 1000 units/order), the printing cost is typicallyrelatively high, e.g., $20-50 per thousand square inches (“MSI”). Insome cases, several print jobs are manually “ganged” together(consolidated or aggregated) onto a single master, in an attempt toreduce the average set-up time per order. Another strategy forcontrolling cost, employed by printers of products such as invitations,office stationery, and address labels, is to offer customers a limitedselection of papers, formats and colors from which to choose.

Printing costs per MSI are much lower for high-volume high-qualityfull-color publishing and packaging print jobs, e.g., food labels,consumer good packaging, magazines, catalogues and high volume marketingmaterials. Publishing and packaging printing is generally done usinglarge, expensive offset printing presses (either web press or sheetfeeding of large-format paper stock) in a highly automated large-volumemanufacturing environment. Because these presses have high set-up andamortization costs, their use has been focused on long print runs thatare typical in the packaging and publishing segments of the printingmarket.

Attempts have been made to reduce the high cost of short-run printing.Set-up costs may be reduced by using rapid changeover productionmachinery, digital technologies, thermographic printing, or single-coloroffset printing. Typically, these techniques assume that each print jobis to be processed as a discrete production run subject to economies ofscale based on the quantity of that print job.

Another approach has been to preprint high volumes of a standard baseproduct (e.g., invitation “blanks” bearing high quality color graphics)using high quality offset printing, and then to overprint variable,custom text (e.g., the text of the invitation) for each order, typicallyusing simpler printing processes and conventional short run printingmethods.

Yet another approach has been to reduce the cost of setting up a printjob by letting the customer, or an intermediary other than the printer,be responsible for the layout, sales and administration aspects of thecustomer's order. For example, some companies, such as Hallmark, haveprovided WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) terminals at which acustomer can view a WYSIWYG display of the item to be printed, and thenupload information regarding the print job to a local or remote printingsite. Another example of this approach is desktop publishing software,which allows a customer to design a print job on-screen.

Computers have been used to reduce cost and improve efficiency ofprinting processes, e.g., to make the process of page layout, proofing,approvals and transmission to the printing floor more efficient. Forexample, in the newspaper and printing industries, on-the-fly pagemarkups have been sent directly to the production floor using digitalworkflow technology. Prepress software and equipment that automatesworkflow is also used by printers and graphics professionals. Recently,Internet companies such as Noosh and Impresse have been providingservices that improve the efficiency of buyer-seller transactionsinvolving printing, e.g., by giving users of their websites the abilityto “connect” with a wide variety of print vendors, from short-run demandprinters to long-run offset printers.

SUMMARY

The invention features method for managing print jobs.

In one aspect, the invention features a method including (a)accumulating discrete print jobs electronically from respectivecustomers, (b) aggregating the discrete print jobs into aggregate printjobs, each of the aggregate print jobs being printable at one time onunits of an integral print medium, and (b) electronically distributingthe aggregate print jobs to respective printers for printing.

Implementations of this aspect of the invention may include one or moreof the following features. The integral print medium may include cutsheets of paper, or large rolls of paper designed for use on offsetprinting web presses, e.g., rolls having roll widths of 20 inches ormore. The print jobs are accumulated through web browsers. Printing ofthe aggregate print jobs is done during periods of otherwise unusedcapacity. Each of the discrete print jobs includes a run of fewer than5,000 copies. Printing is done on large-scale offset full-color presses.Aggregating is done automatically.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including (a)defining a two-dimensional grid of discrete print jobs, the print jobsoccupying positions along the two dimensions of the grid, the gridcorresponding to a substrate to be printed, the print jobs beingarranged on the grid so that at least at some different positions alongeach of the two dimensions of the grid are print jobs that havedifferent content to be printed on the substrate, (b) printing the printjobs on the substrate at their respective positions defined by the grid,(c) cutting the substrate to separate the print jobs, and (d)distributing at least some of the separated print jobs to differentcustomer locations. In some implementations, the print jobs are indifferent formats, and all of the print jobs are printed on thesubstrate at one time.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method including defininga two-dimensional grid of discrete print jobs, the print jobs occupyingpositions along the two dimensions of the grid, the grid correspondingto cut sheets of a substrate to be printed, printing the print jobs oneach of the sheets at their respective positions defined by the grid,and cutting the sheets of the substrate along each of the two dimensionsto separate the print jobs into rectangular stacks. In someimplementations, each stack defines a separate print job.

The invention also features a method including defining atwo-dimensional grid of discrete print jobs, the print jobs occupyingpositions along the two dimensions of the grid, the grid correspondingto a non-preprinted substrate to be printed, printing the print jobs oneach of the sheets at their respective positions defined by the grid,and cutting the sheets of the substrate along each of the two dimensionsto separate the print jobs.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including defining atwo-dimensional grid of discrete print jobs, the print jobs occupyingpositions along the two dimensions of the grid, the grid correspondingto a substrate to be printed, printing the print jobs in full color oneach of the sheets at their respective positions defined by the grid,and cutting the sheets of the substrate along each of the two dimensionsto separate the print jobs.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method including receivingorders for discrete print jobs from customers, each of the orders beingreceived at an associated ordering time, each of the orders having anassociated delivery time, the periods between the ordering times and thedelivery times of at least some of the print jobs being different,aggregating a set of the print jobs that have essentially the sameassociated delivery time into an aggregate print job to be printed atone time on shared substrate units, and arranging for the production ofthe aggregate print job at a time that is just ahead of the deliverytime. In some implementations, the method also includes adjusting theprices of the discrete print jobs based on the period between theordering time and the delivery time. The method may also includearranging for the production during periods of unused printing capacity.

The invention also features a method including offering the printing ofdiscrete print jobs to customers in at least two different servicelevels, one of the service levels including printing the print jobs freefor the customers and another of the service levels including chargingfor the print jobs, receiving orders from customers for print jobs atselected service levels, and aggregating a set of the print jobs forprinting at one time on shared substrate units. The service levels maybe associated with speed of turnaround, and/or with the presence orabsence of third-party advertising on the print job.

In yet another aspect, the invention features a method includingreceiving orders for discrete print jobs from customers, electronicallycreating and accumulating non-commodity information associated with eachof the print jobs, aggregating a set of the print jobs into an aggregateprint job for printing at one time on shared substrate units, andarranging for the production of the aggregate print job using commoditysupplies and services including non-preprinted paper as the commonsubstrate, and commodity inks. The arranging for production may includelocating printers having unused capacity suitable for the aggregateprint job.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including receivingorders for discrete print jobs from customers, automating the generationof non-commodity information associated with the print jobs, aggregatinga set of the print jobs into an aggregate print job for printing at onetime on shared substrate units, and arranging for production of theaggregate print job in accordance with the non-commodity information.The non-commodity information may include at least one of content,approval service, price, delivery terms, color verification services,quantity, and set up steps.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method including receivingorders for discrete print jobs from customers, defining an aggregateprint job comprising a set of the discrete print jobs for printing atone time on shared substrate units, the aggregate print job having adelivery time, enabling printers having equipment not economicallysuitable for completing individual ones of the discrete print jobs tobid competitively for the aggregate print job up to a time just ahead ofthe delivery time, and awarding the aggregate print job to one of theprinters prior to the delivery time. The enabling and awarding may bedone electronically.

The invention also features a method including (a) receiving informationdefining discrete print jobs each of which is alone economicallyunfeasible for printing on high volume printing equipment, (b)aggregating sets of the discrete print jobs into aggregate print jobs,each of the aggregate printing jobs being configured for printing at onetime on units of a common substrate, the aggregate print jobs beingeconomically feasible for printing on high volume printing equipment,each of the aggregate printing jobs having a defined delivery time, (c)making the aggregate print jobs available up to just before the deliverytime, for competitive bidding by printers having the high volumeprinting equipment, and (d) awarding each of the aggregate print jobs tothe printer with the most competitive bid based on predeterminedcriteria.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including (a) using ahigh volume printing machine to produce high volume print jobs, each ofthe high volume print jobs comprising printing of only a large number ofidentical images one after the other, (b) determining the availability,between high volumes print jobs, of unused printing capacity, (c)bidding for aggregate print jobs that can be produced economically onthe high volume printing machine using the unused printing capacity,each of the aggregate print jobs comprising an aggregation of discreteprint jobs that would be economically unfeasible to print separatelyusing the printing machine, and (d) printing at least one of theaggregate print jobs.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method includingperforming graphic design of a discrete print job on a designapplication that runs on a web browser, transferring the print job to aweb server for storage after the graphic design is performed, modifyingthe print job on the web browser, and updating the print job on the webserver after the modifying is done.

The invention also features a method including aggregating discreteprint jobs into aggregate print jobs to be produced on units of a commonsubstrate, all of the aggregate print jobs conforming to a standardformat, transmitting the aggregate print jobs to a printerelectronically, and, at the printer, configuring printing equipment forproducing different ones of the aggregate print jobs using the samesteps.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including (a)defining a standard template format for containing common graphicalinformation that relates to different discrete print jobs, (b) providinga design tool to enable a designer to create a template that complieswith the standard template format and embodies the common graphicalinformation, (c) enabling the designer to deliver the template to aserver electronically, (d) enabling users at client machines to use thetemplate to generate different discrete print jobs that conform to thetemplate and include custom graphical information specific to each ofthe discrete print jobs, and (e) aggregating sets of the discrete printjobs into aggregate print jobs for printing at one time on units ofshared substrate.

In yet another aspect, the invention features a method includingaggregating discrete high-quality full color print jobs into a singleaggregate print job, printing the single aggregate print job usingstandard process colors and standard un-pre-printed paper on high speedprinting equipment, and distributing the aggregate print jobs inelectronic files.

The invention also features a method including (a) digitally aggregatingdiscrete print jobs into an aggregate print job to be printed at onetime on units of a standard shared substrate, the aggregate print jobbeing defined in a standard compressed prepress data format, (b) sendingthe aggregate print job to a workstation at a printing site, at theprinting site, Raster Image Processing the aggregate print job to createstandard color separations, (c) using a computer-to-plate process tocreate plates based on the color separations, (d) loading the platesonto a high volume press in accordance with a standard predefinedprotocol, (e) loading units of the standard shared substrate onto thepress, (f) printing the aggregate print job onto the standard sharedsubstrate, (g) cutting apart the standard shared substrate units toseparate the discrete print jobs, and (h) forwarding the discrete printjobs to different customer destinations.

The invention also features a method including (a) aggregating discreteprint jobs into a digital aggregate print job to be printed at one timeon units of a standard shared substrate, the placement of the discreteprinting jobs within the aggregate print job being defined by a digitalaggregation template that represents the locations of cuts that will beneeded to separate the discrete print jobs from the aggregate print job,(b) placing a physical embodiment of the aggregation template on theunits of the standard shared substrate, and (c) using the physicalembodiment of the aggregation template as a guide to making cuts toseparate the discrete print jobs. The aggregate print job may include aplurality of aggregated sheets, and be identified by an identifierprinted on each aggregated sheet within the aggregate print job.Information printed on the aggregation template may be used toautomatically identify each discrete print job.

In another aspect, the invention features a method including (a)aggregating discrete print jobs into an aggregate print job, (b)printing the aggregate print job at a printing site, (c) separating thediscrete print jobs by cutting apart the aggregate print jobs, (d)electronically identifying the discrete print jobs as having beencompleted using a print job identifier, (e) at the printing site placingthe print jobs into shipment bins of a parcel carrier that tracksshipments electronically using a shipment identifier, (f) associatingthe print job identifier with the parcel carrier's shipment identifier,and (g) enabling customers of the discrete print jobs to track theprogress of delivery of their discrete print jobs electronically.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method including (a)aggregating discrete print jobs of respective customers into anaggregate print job, (b) printing the aggregate print job at a printingsite, (c) separating the discrete print jobs by cutting apart theaggregate print jobs, (d) electronically identifying the discrete printjobs as having been completed using a print job identifier, (e) shippingthe discrete print jobs essentially as soon as they are printed, cut andpackaged, (f) electronically billing the customers in response tocompletion of the printing and delivery of the discrete print jobs to ashipper for shipment.

The invention also features a method including printing an aggregateprint job, cutting the aggregate print job apart to form differentdiscrete print jobs, automatically printing shipping labels for shippingthe different discrete print jobs to different respective customers, andapplying the labels to the different discrete print jobs in accordancewith identifiers on the labels.

In a further aspect, the invention features a method including (a)providing different kinds of entry ports into a print job executionsystem, each of the entry ports enabling a user to create interactivelya full color print job in accordance with a pre-defined design template,(b) at each of the ports, generating a digital print job file based onthe design template and design input of the user, all of the print jobfiles being expressed in a standard design data format, (c) routing allof the digital print job files electronically to an aggregation system,(d) at the aggregation system, assembling selected ones of the digitalprint job files into aggregate print jobs, all of the aggregate printjobs being expressed in a standard prepress format, and (e) routingdifferent ones of the aggregate print jobs electronically to differentprinters for printing.

The invention also features an apparatus that includes (a) web browsersconfigured for interactive design by users of discrete print jobs, (b) acentral storage for information about the discrete print jobs thatresults from interaction with the users, (c) a scalable group of webservers that interact with the web browsers and with the centralstorage, and (d) a scalable group of printing servers configured toaggregate the discrete print jobs into aggregate print jobs and deliverthe aggregate print jobs electronically to printers.

Among the advantages of the invention, short run print jobs can beprinted using high-quality, large-volume printing equipment, whilereducing printing cost significantly, improving print job quality ascompared to alternative short run printing processes, and improvingcapacity utilization of the printing equipment. In some implementations,the printing cost is less than 10%, or even less than 5%, of the cost ofprinting an identical item using traditional short run printingtechniques. Some implementations also provide a fast possible turnaroundtime from when the customer places an order until the customer's printjob is done, e.g., less than two hours, and allow queuing of print jobsso that expedited print jobs are printed first and lower priority printjobs are printed later. A large number of customers with short-run printjobs can be served by a relatively small number of industrial printsubcontractors, to achieve end-to-end automation and aggregation of theprint jobs.

Each customer can design a print job directly on a web browser and, ifdesired, upload the customer's own graphics, e.g., a logo design. Use ofthe web browser based design capability can replace or enhancetraditional methods of graphic design, in which a graphic designertranslates a customer's sketch and/or verbal description into a finisheddesign and provides one or more proofs for the customer's approval priorto printing.

The invention allows the printing subcontractors'0 production floors tobe organized and operated in a manner consistent with the best-in-classpractices for high-volume, high quality publishing and packagingprinters, despite the fragmented nature of the custom printing jobsinvolved. The invention also features a scalable systems architecture,to allow the systems of the invention to accommodate higher volumes ofcustomers and/or printing jobs. Based on real time information providedby printers, order flow can be redirected to those printers who, at agiven moment in time, have excess production capacity and are willing tosell that capacity at a price lower than their “fully loaded” productioncost.

Customer orders can consist of a variety of document types, layouts andquantities, for a potentially infinite range of order characteristics.Yet the traditionally high cost of managing this variability of ordercharacteristics is reduced or eliminated through a conversion of thevariability into a consistently formatted, repetitive stream of pre andpost press digital information that is compatible with printing industrystandards. Groups of customers (e.g., multiple customers within a singlecompany) are able to share and centrally control common documentcharacteristics (e.g., a template for a brochure layout or a businesscard design that is shared by multiple persons within the same company),while decentralizing individual purchase decisions, order entry andmodifications to text or other variable elements within the documents.

Based on market information and printer information, received bothpreviously and in “real time”, the web server host can modify the price,delivery, and product options that are offered to a given customer orset of customers. For instance, if excess production capacity will beavailable in the next several hours, printers may be willing totemporarily cut their wholesale price in order to fill the near-termcapacity, and the web server host could, in response, immediately modifythe offers displayed to customers via the Internet so as to increasedemand. There is no incremental (marginal/variable) cost to processing acustomer's order in a very rapid time (e.g., two hours), and the systemallows real time rescheduling of order queues to manage capacityfluctuations. This allows the web server host to charge a higher pricefor expedited orders without incurring additional cost to provide theexpedited service.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 1A, and 1B are schematic block diagrams of a system accordingto one implementation of the invention. FIGS. 1A and 1B are the top andbottom halves, respectively, of one diagram.

FIGS. 2A-2B are schematic top views of layouts of print jobs.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the designing of a print job on aweb browser.

FIGS. 4-4W are webpages according to one implementation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing connection of elements of thesystem.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a printing and post-press process.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the farm configuration of serversin a system according to one implementation.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a queue processing system.

DESCRIPTION

Implementations of the invention include interrelated elements. Theseelements and their relationships will first be discussed briefly andthen later in more detail.

An implementation of a print job management system 10 is shownschematically in FIGS. 1, 1A, and 1B. A potentially enormous number(e.g., thousands or even hundreds of thousands or millions) ofindividual and commercial customers 12, wishing to place orders fordiscrete print jobs (generally short run printing jobs, i.e., jobs ofless than 40,000 units, typically 250-5,000 units), access the Internet14 via web browsers 13 (or similar interactive communication software)running on personal computers or other electronic devices 11. Customerscan access the system through any one of several different types ofentry ports 15 into the print job management system, where some types ofentry ports may be characterized by their economic and marketcharacteristics. The types of entry ports could include homeoffice/small office computer entry ports 15 a, intermediary ports (suchas boutique stationery stores) 15 b, and large corporate entry ports 15c (such as a Communications Department of a large corporation). Otherentry ports need not be based on web browsers, but could be, for exampleemail links 15 d and dial up voice telephone lines 15 e. The system canalso be integrated with bidding systems or “eHub” bidding sites such asNoosh, Impresse, Collabria and Ariba (ehub portals 15 f).

The term “print job” refers to an individual print job, such as a singledesign version of a brochure for a business in a given quantity such as1000 brochures. The term “order” is used to refer to a group of printjobs that are ordered at the same time, such as a business card,letterhead, and envelopes for a business. For some customers, individualprint jobs could be part of a large corporate communication program thatwould include hundreds of different documents each bearing commongraphic elements and custom text associated with each document.

Through the Internet 14, each customer can access a website 16, thatincludes a website studio 16 a which provides design software that ismade available from a central web server 18. The website studio, whichwill be discussed in further detail below, allows each customer todesign one or more custom printing jobs, e.g., business cards,brochures, postcards, folders, letterhead, and envelopes. The customerchooses from a limited selection of standardized papers, formats(provided to the user in the form of templates with user-specified datafields), colors and quantities. The website studio software isdownloaded from the server as part of web pages displayed to the user,runs on the user's browser, and enables the user to perform simpledesign functions by completing a selected template using a DesignWizard, or more complex design functions using a Design Studio, locallyon his browser. Typically, only the results of the design process areuploaded to the server as a print job. The templates are created usingan XML format or other appropriate format. Alternatively, a customer ora professional designer could generate his own template, using thewebsite studio itself, or using desktop publishing software, and uploadit to the server website studio.

As shown in FIG. 1, two kinds of data pass back and forth between thecustomers and the system, and there are two series of processes thathandle this data. The data can be categorized as graphical print data115 (in FIG. 1, graphical print job data 117, templates 119 and webstudio software 121), and commercial print job data 123. Processing ofthis data is split into two pieces: what goes on between the customersand the system, shown in FIG. 1A, and what goes on between the systemand the printers, shown in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1, there is storageat various points in the system to store the data. For example, some ofit is stored in the customer's PC storage 111, some in the system's datastorage 20/22, and some at the printer data storage 113.

The system's data storage is shown in more detail in FIG. 1A. The datainput by a customer when an order is placed is stored in a centraldatabase 20 and/or a network storage 22, depending on the nature of thedata, as will be discussed below. The network storage 22 stores all ofthe graphic files that define a print job, e.g., logos, fonts,backgrounds, layouts and frame designs, while the central database 20stores, among other things, all of the non-graphical information, e.g.,the text to be printed and the business information that is needed toget the jobs printed and delivered. The central database 20 also storesinformation regarding the customer, e.g., the customer's name andaddress, and stores the non-graphical elements of the website studiotemplates (the graphical elements that are stored in the network storageare referenced by the templates and document layouts).

Once the customer has finished designing the print job the customerplaces an order, e.g., using a Purchase Wizard 16 b, as discussed below.The customer's print job is sent to the server in XML format, and theXML file is then converted by the server into a digital format, e.g.,into a PostScript file 128 (FIG. 1B). The backend printing servers 28then automatically aggregate, or “gang together”, the customer'sPostScript file with multiple PostScript files from other customers toproduce a consolidated print sheet (a “layout”). To achieve this, thebackend servers assemble the individual PostScript files to create thelayout 130 (FIG. 1B), with different individual print jobs arranged onrespective portions of the layout. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, 133different business card print jobs 50 of identical size could beaggregated into a layout and printed on a single large printing sheet52, e.g., a large format printing sheet measuring 1.0 meter by 0.6meter. In other examples, different sizes and shapes of printjobs can beaggregated, e.g., as shown in FIG. 2B and discussed below. Theorganization of the different print jobs on the layout 130 is defined byaggregation templates that characterize where cuts need to be made afterprinting in order to separate the different print jobs. The choice ofwhich print jobs to place onto a given layout and in what arrangement isdiscussed below.

The commercial information related to the customer's order (e.g., theshipping address, shipping date, etc.) is stored in a customerinformation file 132 (FIG. 1B). The customer information file 132 isaggregated with other customer's files (the same customers whosePostScript files have been aggregated onto the layout), to create anaggregate meta file 134 which contains all of the commercial informationfor the customers' print jobs. The aggregate meta file 134 also includescommercial information relating to the printing run, e.g., a batchnumber (“template layout reference number”), the number of sheets to beprinted, and the cutting template to be used to cut the printed sheetsinto individual printed print jobs.

The aggregate meta file is posted by the backend server to a website 136that is accessible to printing firms 138 wishing to sell their printingservices to the web server host. The aggregate meta file 134 includesthe commercial details of the print run that will be performed using thePostScript layout file 130 (e.g., number of sheets, type of paper, anddeadline). As will be discussed below, printing firms with unusedcapacity bid for a contract to print the print run. Generally, thecontract is automatically awarded to the bidder providing the mostcompetitive bid based on predetermined criteria, e.g., lead time,quality, history, price or other factors. The successful bidder'scontractual obligations, and the PostScript layout file and aggregatemeta file, are then transmitted by the backend server to that printingfirm, e.g., to a server 32 located at the printing site.

The PostScript layout file is converted at the printing facility 29,during RIPing (Raster Image Processing), to the color separated prepressformat that is used by standard computer-to-plate systems that producefour-color photolithographic plates 110 (FIG. 1B) for use on automatedlarge scale offset printing presses 30. By large scale offset printingpresses we mean either (a) sheet-fed presses with sheet formats of530.times.740 or larger and straight printing rates of 12,000 sheets perhour or higher, or (b) web presses with roll widths of 20 inches orhigher and printing rates of 40,000 iph (inches per hour). Large scaleoffset printing presses include, e.g., Heidelberg, Speedmaster, andother similar or larger printing press production systems.) The server32 provides a browser interface for use by people who operate theprinting presses (“print operators”). Information about how to set upand perform each of the print runs is provided in a simple format to theprint operators through the browser interface, as discussed below. Theplates are used to print a desired number of copies on a standardprinting paper that is loaded by the print operator using standardfour-color process inks, based on meta file information that is providedby the backend printing server to the operator on a web-browser basedcomputer display 32 at the operator's station.

The printed sheets are then transferred to a cutting station 140 (FIG.1B), where they are cut and sorted into individual print jobs 142, aswill be discussed below. In some implementations (such as forpresentation folders or envelopes) additional post-print processing isperformed such as folding and/or gluing. The orders are then immediatelyshipped to the respective customers, using shipping information that isdisplayed on a computer display 34 in the shipping area of the printingfacility.

Most customers “pre-pay” (e.g., provide their credit card billinginformation) upon placing their orders. Some corporate customers may beinvoiced. Generally, the customer's credit card is not debited untilafter the customer's order has been shipped. The backend printing serversends a meta file 144 back to the web server after a shipment has beenmade, informing the web server of the status of each customer's order.Once an order has been successfully shipped, the backend serverinteracts with a processing center 146 so that the customer's accountwill be debited, or, in the case of a corporate customer, sends thecorporation an invoice.

Customer Interface with the Internet

The only requirement for use of the print job management system by acustomer who is accessing the system through one of the types ofbrowser-based entry ports described above is a computer that is linkedto the Internet by a standard recent web browser, e.g., MicrosoftInternet Explorer 4.0 or higher. The customer accesses the website 16 byentering the website URL address into the browser. Other entry ports donot even require that the customer have access to a browser, e.g., adial-up voice telephone link 15 e could be used to enter information byvoice or punching keys on the telephone keypad.

The design and order process is conducted through the website. The restof the system is “invisible” to the customer. The customer's order isprinted and delivered to the customer without any requirement forfurther interaction, although the customer may use the website to trackthe progress of the order through the printing process and the shipmentof the order to the customer.

The Website Studio

The website studio allows the customer to design his own print job,using the browser for design selection and editing. The website studiouses a user-friendly “what you see is what you get” (“WYSIWYG”)functionality that allows the customer to choose a base design for adesired printed item (e.g., business card or stationery), and then editthe design. The functionality is similar to that of existing desktopword processing publishing products, making the website easy for mostcustomers to use.

As shown in FIG. 3, using the browser and the Design Wizard portion ofthe website studio the customer can choose a printed item from a wideselection (e.g., business cards, letterhead, invitations, brochures andmarketing materials), choose basic options such as page orientation(portrait or landscape), view a variety of design templates that areavailable for the item and choose one, complete the template (e.g., bysupplying new text, uploading graphics files and adjusting fonts), andsave the resulting design. The customer can then add the item to hisshopping cart, place an order, or perform further design modificationsusing the Design Studio portion of the website studio. The designprocess will be described in further detail below with reference toFIGS. 4-4O. Once the customer is satisfied with the design, the customercan add the design to his shopping cart as a print job, and use thePurchase Wizard, discussed below with reference to FIGS. 4P-4W, or otherpurchase function, to place an on-line order and pre-pay for the orderover a secure connection.

The customer is offered a relatively limited selection of standardpapers, to allow easy and cost efficient aggregation of print jobs andprinter set-up, as will be discussed below. Customers also select fromcertain predetermined print quantities, e.g., multiples of 250 units(250, 500, 1000, etc.).

The procedure described above would be followed by a customer enteringthe system from his individual PC. If other entry ports are used, forexample an intermediary port 15 b, some of these steps may be bypassed,e.g., the customer may not use a Purchase Wizard to place and pay forthe order.

FIGS. 4-4O show webpages from a website studio used in oneimplementation of the invention. To begin the design process, thecustomer first navigates from a home page (not shown), to the DesignWizard (FIGS. 4-4E). The Design Wizard is configured to appear to thecustomer like a standard Windows® Wizard application, e.g., with “back”,“next” and “finish” buttons, giving the customer a feeling offamiliarity and user-friendliness. In the Design Wizard, the customerselects the item that the customer wishes to design (e.g., businesscards or other items, in FIGS. 4-4E). For business card design, theDesign Wizard includes a Welcome screen (FIG. 4), an Orientation screen(FIG. 4A) that allows the customer to choose between horizontal andvertical cards, a Template Browser screen (FIG. 4B) that allows thecustomer to choose between a variety of different design templates (notshown), an Information screen (FIG. 4C) at which the customer fills in anumber of fields to complete the selected design template with thecustomer's information, and Review screens (FIGS. 4D and 4E) that allowthe customer to review the front and back of the resulting businesscard. After reviewing the card, the customer can decide to (a) go backand edit the card, (b) go to the Checkout (the Purchase Wizard describedbelow), or (c) go to the Design Studio to perform more complicateddesign functions (e.g., changing fonts and color schemes).

A Design Studio used in one implementation of the invention is shown inFIGS. 4F-4O. When the customer opens the Design Studio, the customerwill first see an initial screen (FIG. 4F) with a loading bar,indicating the status of the downloading of the Design Studio to thecustomer's browser. Each time something (e.g., a font) is downloaded tothe customer's browser from the web server, a similar loading bar willbe provided. The Design Studio is configured to have toolbars and otherfeatures that are similar to those used in standard word processing anddesktop publishing user interfaces, so that again the customer will havea feeling of familiarity with the software and will find the softwareeasy to use. In the case of the loading bar, the user is comfortablewith the notion that the application is loading even though it is notbeing loading in the usual sense of being moved from a hard disk tomemory in the user's computer. The Design Studio also includes astandard “Startup Tips” dialog box (FIG. 4G), like other Windows®applications, and a Help system.

In the Design Studio, the customer can select a background from avariety of choices (FIG. 4H), use a “picker” dropdown list (FIG. 4I) toselect other design features (logos, card layouts, color schemes,designs and fonts), modify those design features, add a logo (FIG. 4I),select a color scheme (FIG. 4J), change the color of selected text (FIG.4K), change the properties of an image, e.g., the logo (FIG. 4L), viewthe backside of the card (FIG. 4M), and preview exactly how the frontand back of the printed card will look (FIGS. 4N and 4O). The DesignStudio features in-place editing, i.e., the customer can double-click onan item and change it directly. While in the Design Studio, the customercan make as many modifications to the fonts, colors, card layout, etc.,as desired. The customer can also choose to view the design at lowresolution, medium resolution or high resolution. In someimplementations, the customer can add text or graphics to the back ofthe card, in which case in most implementations the existing“advertisement” text is automatically removed and this removal isautomatically chosen as a purchase option in the Purchase Wizard. Thecustomer can also choose a blank back side as a purchase option.

If desired, a customer using the Design Studio can upload a graphicfile, e.g., containing the customer's logo. The file can be, e.g.,created using graphic design software, downloaded from the Internet,taken with a digital camera, or scanned in with an image scanner.Generally, the file should have a relatively high resolution, e.g., atleast 300 dpi. Most standard graphics file types are supported. Thecustomer's graphic file is stored in network storage 22, and isreferenced by the XML file created by the customer in the website studioand added to the PostScript file for the customer's print job when thePostScript file is created.

When the customer is satisfied with the design of the card, the customercan proceed to the checkout (the Purchase Wizard), or can save thefinished design (the customer's print job) for later purchase. In eithercase, the customer's print job is saved in XML format in the centraldatabase 20. The XML file includes the size and orientation of thedocument, the number of pages, and, for each page, the margins,background, frame design (if any), and the text and graphics elements onthe page and their characteristics (color, font, size, etc.).

The website studio is designed for use by customers who have no graphicarts experience or specialized software knowledge, e.g., small businessowners who want to “do it all” and workers in companies whose goal is toupdate information, such as the company address or telephone number,prior to ordering or reordering printed materials.

For users with graphic design experience and desktop publishingsoftware, the web server provides a full toolset that is compatible withleading desktop publishing software such as Quark Express and AdobeInDesign software. Thus, a print job can be designed by a graphicartist, using professional desktop publishing software, and thenuploaded to the web server for distributed access to other users at thecustomer company. For example, the graphic artist can define fixed andvariable fields, and an administrator or other designated employees atthe company can then be given access to input information (e.g., companyaddress and telephone) into the variable fields, without changing thefixed fields (e.g., the overall design and graphics of the print job).As a result, customers having access to desktop publishing software cancreate their own templates, rather than being limited to the templatesoffered by the web server host. When the template is uploaded to the webserver, it is split into graphic data (logos, fonts, backgrounds anddesigns) and all other data. The graphic data remains in its originalformat and is stored in network storage 22, as discussed above. Theremaining data and layout information is converted to XML format andstored in the central database 20.

Unlike other previous, server-based approaches, the website studioutilizes browser-based processing to allow high-speed processing whenthe customer is working interactively to design a print job. The websitestudio utilizes Javascript and DHTML technologies for the graphic designby the customer, i.e., the web pages that the customer receives andviews include not only the static visual display, but also graphicdesign programs (the website studio) that will run on the customer'sbrowser just as any other application runs on a computer. Thus, thecustomer can use the browser interface to do graphical design withoutinteracting with, and thus consuming the resources of, the web server.

So that the website studio can be quickly downloaded by the customer, inmost implementations the graphic elements, e.g., fonts, backgrounds andlogos, used in the website studio are stored in a library in the networkstorage 22, a copy of which is stored at the printing firm informationsystem 29, as will be discussed below. Thus, a graphic element need onlybe downloaded by the web server to the browser when it is selected bythe customer during the design process. The XML file that results fromthe design process (the customer's print job) will reference theappropriate information in the centrally stored library. The library isreplicated at the printing firms, so that the graphic elements can beinserted during RIPing using OPI (Open Prepress Interface) techniques.The library can be distributed periodically using a CD-ROM publicationor other distribution approach so that all parties to the system areworking from the same library.

Post-design processes, such as high resolution proofing and processingfiles, are queued separately and processed by the backend serversindependently of the web server, because the customer is not waiting forthese processes to be completed and thus processing speed is not aconcern.

The web studio may also include a dynamic shopping cart, which allowsthe customer to access the shopping cart at any time during the designprocess to add or delete items.

The web studio application is based on modules, to provide an opendevelopment architecture. Different modules are plugged into the corelibraries to provide additional functionalities, e.g., the Undo/RedoHistory Manager is a separate module that could be deactivated, byremoving a few links, or replaced by a new and more powerful modulecomplying with the same architecture as the current module.

The web studio application uses style sheets to “style” the interfaceinto a usual Windows®-like interface. Using style sheets allows theapplication to have a smaller overall size, as styling policy iscentralized in a few modules that are reused in the application's webpages. Providing a centralized styling policy also allows the web serverhost to change the look and feel of the web studio interface at anytime, just by changing the styles.

In one implementation, the modules use Internet Explorer XML DOMimplementations. Using these functionalities, a real-time renderer canbe created which will take any XML document and, using XML style-sheets(XSL) transform the document into a WYSIWYG preview. The use of theseintegrated functionalities allows a small and fast rendering/editionengine.

Using HTCs (HTML components), scalability and processing speed can beenhanced. Also, the web studio application can be designed to behavedifferently on the result of the XSL transformation, just by using adifferent previewing style sheet (CSS). Thus, after rendering, theresulting preview can be a simple “flat” preview, or an editabledocument that the user can interact with.

If the XML Document model is extended to VML (Vector Markup Language),the web site studio is then able to render documents created by mostcommon office applications, e.g., Microsoft Word. The user can thenmodify such a document and send it to the webserver for printing. Thisfeature enhances the compatibility of the web studio with usual Windows®applications. Extension of the XML document model to VML also allows theweb studio application to draw more complex shapes (e.g., ovals, roundedrectangles and curves), apply color gradients and color schemes tocomplex objects, and use transformations, making it possible for a userto design and print complex documents to suit his or her needs.

The Purchase Wizard

A Purchase Wizard used in one implementation of the invention is shownin FIGS. 4P-4W. Like the Design Wizard, the Purchase Wizard appears tothe customer as a standard Windows Wizard application. The Wizard may beconfigured to run on the user's browser, or on the web server, dependingon the preference and resources of the web server host. The finalpurchase information is transmitted over a secure server connection. TheWizard includes a Welcome screen (FIG. 4P), a Review screen (FIG. 4Q)that gives the customer a final opportunity to review the design, anAddress screen (FIG. 4R) that allows the customer to input a shippingaddress and select an order quantity, one or more Options screens thatoffer the customer choices of upgrades, e.g., to remove the advertisingtext on the reverse side (FIG. 4S), a Delivery screen (FIG. 4T) thatallows the customer to select delivery options, e.g., expediteddelivery, a screen that notifies the customer that the order is beingsubmitted to the server (FIG. 4U), a Billing Information screen thatallows the customer to input billing information (FIG. 4V), and aPayment Confirmation screen that asks the customer for finalconfirmation of the order.

Once an order has been placed, the server stores the customer's orderinformation into the central database 20, including the commercialinformation regarding the customer's order.

In some implementations, relatively low cost items, e.g., businesscards, are offered to customers by the web server host at no charge. Thecost of printing these items can be recouped by the web server host bycharging a fee for upgrades, e.g., faster delivery, and sales ofcomplementary items such as business card cases. For example, asdiscussed above, the web server host may include an advertisement (e.g.,“Free Business Cards at vistaprint.com”) on the back of each free card,and charge a fee if the customer does not wish this advertisement toappear on the customer's cards.

For all orders, the web server host may, if desired, charge additionalfees for enhancements such as expedited service and gloss or otherspecial finishes.

Customers can obtain support through the website by visiting a FAQ(“frequently asked questions”) or help page (not shown). In someimplementations, the website will also offer interactive online support,support via email, and/or a toll-free number that customers can call fortelephone support. If desired by the website host, access to interactiveonline support, email and telephone support may be restricted to certainpreferred customers, e.g., corporate customers having accounts with thewebsite host. Alternatively, the website host may offer these servicesto all customers at no charge or may charge a fee for access.

As discussed above, the customer can access the website studio using hisown computer and browser, or can use another type of entry port, e.g.,an intermediary port 15 b (such as a terminal at a boutique stationerystore), or a large corporate entry port 15 c (such as a CommunicationsDepartment of a large corporation). The entry port need not be based ona web browser, but could be, for example, an email link or dial uptelephone line. The customer may use the website studio withoutassistance, or may describe the desired print job to someone else, e.g.,a graphic designer or salesperson at the boutique stationery store, whowill use the website studio to design the print job.

The Web Server

In some types of entry port, the web server provides the interaction ofthe customer with the web studio. The web server uses a typicalthree-tier architecture to respond to all of the customer page requests,by using server-side scripting to access server objects that implementthe business logic, these objects in turn interacting with the centraldatabase and network storage to access the necessary data.

Data Storage

Hundreds of thousands (potentially millions) of customer relationshipsare managed by the system. Each customer order typically involves arelatively large file due to the nature of color graphic printing data.The data storage capacity of the system is robust enough to handle highlevels of data storage and data access. The data storage is also capableof acting as a link between the front end at which orders are placed,the design studio, the backend printing servers, and shipping,accounting and marketing systems. A data storage system that is capableof meeting these requirements is an Oracle RDBMS running on a UNIX boxor a Microsoft SQL Server 7.

All data is stored in either the central database 20 or the networkstorage 22. Stored data includes business-related information such asinformation pertaining to customers and orders, and design data specificto each customer's print job.

Network storage 22 includes one or more network attached storage (NAS)systems, and is configured to store all graphical objects that are usedby the Design Wizard and Studio and that are uploaded by customers,including logos, backgrounds, fonts and frame designs. The networkstorage includes a library, which contains all of the backgrounds, logosand fonts that are used by the Design Wizard and Studio. Customeruploaded information is not stored in the library. The library isreplicated and sent to each of the printing firms used by the system forprint runs, and the contents of the library are referenced by thePostScript layout files sent to the printing firms. The network storagemay also contain the web pages used in the website 16.

A very large amount of data is stored in the network storage 22, e.g. upto several terabytes depending on the number of customers using thesystem. The network storage 22 is completely server independent (itincludes its own enclosed CPU) and is directly connected to the localarea network (a local area network internally operated by the web serverhost, including the web servers, the backend servers, and the storagedevices), making the stored data available-to connected servers, i.e.,the web server(s) 18 and the backend printing servers 28. As of thewriting of this description, a single NAS system can typically handlefrom 20 gigabytes to one terabyte of data. Thus, as data space needsincrease more disks can be added to the NAS (this operation typicallydoes not require a service shutdown), or, when the limit of each NAS isreached, an additional NAS can be added to the system. As shown in FIG.5, the web servers, central database, and backend servers are connectedto the network storage by an Ethernet.

Central database 20 is a relational database management system (RDBMS)that handles all non-graphical data. This database is designed to handlemillions of records. As is customary, the data is organized in tabularform. In one implementation, the database includes the following tables,which include the listed fields. (More, fewer or different tables may beused in other implementations, as needed.)

Table Fields Products unique product (item) ID (i.e., the SKU #) andname, product description, list price, weight (for shipping) Print Jobsunique print job ID and name, XML content of print job, SKU # of item(card, envelope, etc.), creation date, last modification date Templatesunique template ID and name, XML content of template, SKU # of item(card, envelope, etc.), creation date, last modification date, templatecategory Template Categories unique category ID and name, parentcategory ID (tree structure), category graphical representation Shoppersunique shopper ID, shopper name, number of logins, last login date,email address/login ID, password Orders unique order number, referenceto shopper ID, order date, pricing and tax information, status of order,credit card authorization number, shipping method, shipper trackinginformation, customer shipping and billing information includingpriority of order Ordered Items ordered item number, order number (fromorders table), SKU # of item, quantity, pricing information, print jobID Shopping Carts Same fields as Orders, but temporary storage ShoppingCart Items Same fields as Ordered items, but temporary storage PrinterBatches batch ID number, date sent, status, printer ID (Layouts) numberand name, quantity of print run, action to be taken when layout iscreated (none, notify print operator, send layout to printer, notify andsend) Printer Batch Items batch item ID number, ordered item number(from ordered items table), batch ID number (from printer batchestable), status of item

Data stays in the database as long as it is needed by the system. Datais maintained in the Orders table after a customer's order has beencompleted and shipped, to facilitate reordering. To avoid overloadingthe database, the web server host may place a time limit on reordering,or charge the customer a nominal fee for keeping his information in thedatabase for an extended period of time.

Each time a layout is created, an entry is created in the Layouts table.Depending on the action to be taken, the print operator may be notifiedby email, or an extranet query can be set up to query the table, or aprocess may be running at the printer that checks the table for newlayouts.

The following status codes may be used in the “status” field in theOrders table:

Status Code Value Status description ST_READY 0 The order has beensubmitted by the customer but at this point has not been processed.ST_PROCESSING 1 This order is being processed. ST_CANCELLED 2 This orderis being processed. ST_REPEAT 3 There was a problem with this order soit has been re- submitted. This code is treated by the system in thesame way as an “unprocessed” order. (Re-submitted orders can only bere-submitted a few times before a warning is raised) ST_DISPATCHED 4This order has been dispatched and the tracking information has beenupdated. ST_COMPLETED 5 This customer's credit card has been charged.This order has now been completed.

Order Queuing, Prepress Aggregation and Data Conversion

Prepress aggregation is performed by a prepress aggregation module ofthe backend printing server, which includes a multi-user PostScript filecreator, shown as item 200 in FIG. 8. The file creator collects all ofthe print jobs that have been received by the web server and queued forprinting. The file creator includes four queue-processing components, asfollows. The first component 202 creates individual PostScript files 204for each customer's design, and individual meta files 206, referenced toeach customer's PostScript file, that contain job tracking informationand other commercial information related to the customer's order. Thesecond component 208 collects these PostScript files, according toaggregation parameters (e.g., job tracking information and size of theprinting paper to be used), and aggregates (or “gangs”) them to producea PostScript file 210 that contains “N-up” designs, the value of N beingdependent on the design size, the paper size, and the exact layoutrequired due to requirements such as edge bleed. The third component 212does an automatic “pre-flight check” on each aggregated PostScript file,thus avoiding the need for further manual intervention. The fourthcomponent 214 optimizes production scheduling and routes the finalaggregated PostScript file to a Raster Image Processor (RIP) 220 at theprinting cell.

The print jobs are arranged spatially on the master, rather than inchronological order. As a result, several types of items can beaggregated and arranged on a single layout, e.g., postcards, invitationsand business cards. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, the layout caninclude business cards 50, postcards 53 and invitations 55. If any ofthe aggregated print jobs are to be printed on both sides, the entirelayout will be printed on both sides, with blank areas for any printjobs that are printed only on one side. Some items, e.g., envelopes,generally cannot be aggregated with other types of items because oftheir specific post-press processing requirements.

Aggregation may be performed in accordance with one of a number ofstandard aggregation templates, as noted above, or can be done “on thefly”, in any arrangement that will fit within the bounds of the papersheet to be printed. The prepress aggregation module, a rules-basedprogram, aggregates print jobs by scanning the Ordered Items table ofthe central database and searching for items (print jobs) that have thesame printing requirements, e.g., the same delivery date, paper grade,and post press processing requirements. Scanning generally continuesuntil enough print jobs have been located to fill a layout of a givensize. The XML files corresponding to the selected print jobs are thenpulled from the Document Table, converted to PostScript files andaggregated, as discussed above.

Printing is generally performed in a base print run of a standard numberof sheets, e.g., 250 sheets. The prepress aggregation moduleautomatically deals with a print quantity that is greater than thenumber of sheets in the base print run by allocating that print file toone or more extra position(s) on the consolidated sheet (master). Forexample, if the base print run is 250 sheets and a customer orders aprint quantity of 500, the customer's design would occupy two positionson the master, whereas if the customer orders a print quantity of 1000four positions would be occupied. The prepress aggregation module isalso able to differentiate between these different quantity orders, andthus when sufficient order volume is being generated at, e.g., 500units, the module will create a print file with each order occupyingonly a single position and increase the base print run to 500 sheets,further reducing unit cost. Also, in the unlikely event thatinsufficient orders are received over a period of time, one or moreposition(s) on the master may be left blank.

In some implementations, the prepress aggregation module is configuredto provide digital management of queues to allow a customer to choose tohave his order expedited for an additional cost. Expedited orders arequeued ahead of non-expedited orders, so that non-expedited orders willbe printed later, e.g., 5-7 days later, than expedited orders which areprinted immediately. As a result, all orders can be shipped immediatelyafter printing, without the need for the printing firm to sort out andhold back non-expedited orders. If there are a few particularly highpriority jobs waiting to be printed, the program with aggregate thesejobs and send them to be printed immediately, without waiting for enoughorders to be received to fill a layout.

The Backend Printing Interface

The backend printing servers do not interact directly with thecustomers. The backend printing servers do the processing (e.g., printjob aggregation and printer preparation and optimization) that occursafter the customers have designed the print job and placed orders.Generally, communications between the backend printing servers and theprint subcontractors are handled over dedicated leased lines due to thehigh volume of real-time data transfer from the backend print servers tothe print production floor.

After the print jobs have been aggregated and queued by the prepressaggregation module, as described above, the resulting layout andaggregate meta file are sent by the backend printing servers todesignated printing firms. The printing firm to which the data is sentmay be selected by an automated bidding process, which will be describedbelow. The digital data is then used to make color-separated offsetprinting plates in accordance with the layout. The printing plates aregenerally prepared in advance of the time allotted for the print run,e.g., the layout and meta file are sent at least an hour before thescheduled print run and the plates are formed immediately (plate forminggenerally takes about 10-15 minutes or less).

Once the printing plates have been formed, the operator of the printingpress loads the specified grade and quantity of printing paper for theaggregate print run, e.g., 250 sheets plus “overage” for a 250 sheet runof business cards. For this purpose, the operator refers to abrowser-based terminal at his work-station, which displays informationfrom the meta file concerning the print run. The print run is thenperformed, resulting in the desired number of printed sheets, e.g., astack of 250 printed sheets for a 250 sheet run. The system can organizemultiple aggregate print runs that use the same paper base, thuseliminating the need for paper changes.

Post-Press Processing

Referring to FIGS. 1B and 6, there are several steps that take placeafter a print run. These steps include cutting, post-forming (in somecases), sorting, packing and shipping. These steps are described indetail below.

Print jobs that are part of an order (e.g., letterhead) can be helduntil other print jobs that are part of the same order (e.g., envelopes)are ready. (In some cases, the different parts of a customer's order maybe printed at different printers, in which case they will be shippedseparately.) In some cases shipments may also be tracked and customersinformed of the location/status of their orders.

Cutting and Forming

To cut the stack of sheets into individual customers' print jobs, theoperator selects an appropriate template by again referring to theterminal information, and/or by referring to a batch number (or“template-layout reference number”) on the printing plate or printed inthe margin area of the printed sheets (e.g., a bar code 51, FIG. 2A).The sheets are moved, as a stack, to a cutting station (e.g., aguillotine cutter), the template is placed on top of the stack ofsheets, and the operator enters the template-layout reference numberinto another terminal to program the guillotine cutter (or thetemplate-layout reference number is automatically downloaded to theterminal). The guillotine cutter then cuts the stack of sheets, formingindividual stacks of items (e.g., business cards, postcards, etc.). Inhigh volume applications, the guillotine cutter can be replaced byautomatic cutting or blanking equipment such as is used for cuttinglabels. While a guillotine cutter is used for most items, e.g., businesscards, postcards, and other flat items), some items will require otherpost forming processes. For example, envelopes are formed using standardenvelope forming equipment, including a hydraulic die cutter and anenvelope folding and gluing machine. Because the folding and gluingmachines generally require relatively high volumes (e.g., 150,000 unitsor more), it is necessary to accumulate the printed sheets from printruns until the necessary unit volume is reached. In order to keep trackof individual print jobs, a marker is placed between each print job andthe following print job. This can be accomplished, for example, by usinga heavy, brightly colored cardboard sheet as the template, resulting ina brightly colored, sturdy marker at the top of each stack of printeditems in a given order. The stacks of items can then be stacked and setaside, or transferred directly to the envelope folding and gluingmachine and left there until there are a sufficient number of sheets tooperate the machine.

Other items that require post-processing, e.g., folders, are processedusing appropriate cutting and post-forming techniques, which are wellknown.

Sorting and Shipping

After cutting is completed, an operator refers to simple instructionsdisplayed by a terminal, indicating how to package the items. Theinstructions also indicate whether certain stacks of items should be setaside until a subsequent print run has been completed, e.g., if acustomer has ordered both business cards and letterhead stationery.

Shipping labels will be printed automatically by a printer attached toone of the browser-based terminals, allowing the operator to easilylabel the packages for shipping. The labels will generally include a barcode to facilitate shipping using optical-reader based systems, e.g., asused by UPS and FedX carriers. When these carriers are used, theinformation scanned in by the optical reader can be used by the webserver host to track the location of a shipment and, if desired, toinform a customer of the location and/or status of the customer's order.After an order has been packed and labeled, the operator can simply dropit into a carrier's bin (e.g., a UPS bin) on site.

As discussed above, most customers will have pre-paid during ordering,while some corporate customers will have accounts with the web serverhost, allowing invoicing and later payment. Debiting and invoicing ofcustomers is conducted by the backend server upon receipt of a meta filefrom the printing facility indicating that orders have been successfullyshipped. The printing facility and carrier are paid by an automatedaccounts payable management system after printing and shipping have beensuccessfully completed.

System Scalability

Referring to FIG. 7, while a single web server is shown in FIG. 1 forclarity, the system will generally include more than one web server toaccommodate a very large volume of users. For example, for volumes of upto around 2 million visits a month, the browser-based processing of thesystem allows for a small, dedicated print-processing server farm offewer than 5 servers. The system may be scaled to accommodate many timesthis amount of visits simply by adding more servers.

The servers are arranged in a “web server farm”, i.e., all of theservers used are strictly identical, and the system architecture isimplemented so that additional customer requests, that cannot be handledby the existing servers, can be handled by simply adding an extraidentical server to the farm. The backend printing servers 28 are alsoarranged in a farm configuration.

In a farm configuration, the load is split between the availableservers, so that if more servers are needed either due to overloading ofthe system or due to a server breaking down the load will continue to besplit proportionally among the servers after one is added, removed orreplaced.

Automated Bidding Exchange for Printing Services

As shown in FIG. 1, the web server host has supplier relationships witha number of printing firms that are equipped to receive digital data(layouts) and informational data (meta files) from the system servers.The system includes a program that includes a digital databasecontaining the meta files for each layout. The program fills customerorders by purchasing printing services based on automated real timebidding of commodity costs (i.e., paper and ink costs and/ordepreciation). The printing firms bid for near-term printing servicesbased on the capacity utilization of the printer at the time theprinting services are needed, by accessing certain parts of the programvia the Internet. For instance, if a printing firm anticipates anear-term situation of unused capacity, the printing firm will generallyprice that time period at just above marginal (commodity) cost. Theprogram selects the most attractive bid from among the printing firmsand transmits the digital data to that firm. The directing andredirecting of capacity can be done up to the very moment of productionrelease.

The program may be configured to award a printing contract to theprinting firm that is the lowest bidder, or to award the contract basedon a group of selection criteria, e.g., quality, lead time, price, andhistory.

The printing firms may enter into the bidding process through a websiteoperated by the web server host, e.g., by posting information regardingone-time availability, by posting information regarding long termavailability (e.g., that a certain time slot is available every day oreach week), or by responding to information regarding layouts that hasbeen posted by the web server host. In some implementations the web siteis configured so that a printer will only see information pertaining tolayouts that could be printed by that printer (i.e., the printer willnot see information pertaining to layouts that are in a format that islarger than the format the printer's press can accommodate.)

In some cases, the bidding process will be bypassed entirely. Forexample, if the web server has a layout that is particularly suitablefor a specific printing firm, and the web server knows that the printingfirm is available to print the layout, the web server may send thelayout and meta files to the printing firm without putting the layout upfor bidding by other firms.

Implementations of the invention involve a division of thecharacteristics (and especially the costs) of the printing product intotwo major groups: the commodity aspects and costs; and the informational(or custom) aspects and costs.

The commodity aspects and costs are those that are deliberately forcedto be non-varying among all of the print jobs. These include papers,inks and depreciation. Only a relatively small set of different papersmay be permitted which reduces the cost of the paper to a bare minimum.Only standard process inks may be permitted, which similarly reduces inkcosts to a bare minimum. Finally, printing equipment costs (includingdepreciation expense) are also in the nature of a commodity across themany jobs that are to be printed. The goal is to reduce these costs tothe bare minimum that would be achieved were the presses to be run atfull capacity and with zero setup time. The costs are driven toward thisresult by using techniques that reduce the setup time to a bare minimumand give the printer equipment owners a medium for easily fillingessentially all of their unused capacity.

On the informational (custom) side are such aspects as definition ofcontent of each print job, price, delivery, and other terms, the abilityto reduce capacity underutilization, color definition and verification,variations in quantity, the details of delivery and invoicing, thedetails of change over and setup, and marketing and sales efforts. Onthis informational side, too, the goal of the implementations is todrive the costs down (in theory to near zero) using informationtechnology, electronic communication, and other techniques.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the claims. For example, whilefixed and variable fields are discussed above in the context ofcustomer-defined templates, in some implementations the web server hostmay provide templates having this feature as part of the website studio.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for managing print jobs associated withmultiple customers, comprising: at least one computer-readable storagemedia which stores a plurality of individual print jobs received frommultiple different electronic devices via a network, each individualprint job comprising a graphical print job data and associatedcommercial data; the at least one server configured to search thecommercial data associated with the stored plurality of individual printjobs to select individual print jobs from the media which arecharacterized as having at least some common printing requirements; theat least one server further configured to automatically aggregate atleast some of the selected individual print jobs into an aggregate printjob, the aggregate print job comprising a meta file and a layout file,the meta file comprising at least some commercial data associated witheach of the selected individual print jobs and the layout filecomprising the corresponding graphical print job data of the selectedindividual print job, whereby the selected individual print jobs in theaggregate print job are printed at one time on one or more units of ashared substrate when the aggregate print job is printed.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the printing requirements comprises at least one ofthe group comprising a delivery date, a substrate type, a substrateformat, a substrate color, and a quantity to be printed.
 3. The systemof claim 2, wherein the selected individual print jobs are selectedbased at least on the substrate type.
 4. The system of claim 2, whereinthe selected individual print jobs are selected based at least on thesubstrate format.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein the selectedindividual print jobs are selected based at least on the substratecolor.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein the selected individual printjobs are selected based at least on the quantity to be printed.
 7. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the selected individual print jobs areselected based post-press processing requirements of the selectedindividual print jobs.